Fluffy blanket
by Lil-Samuu
Summary: Soppy fluff with Colette, Lloyd, Sheena and Zelos.


Somewhat overly soppy "Bliss" timeline bit of fluff one shot. I really am getting rather predictable aren't I? :) Set before Miles and Suzuka are born, Lloyd and Colette are staying over at Sheena and Zelos's place in Mizuho.

Spoiler warning: If you don't know what happens to Lloyd at the end of the game and don't want to know the please be aware there's a spoiler here. It's more of a hint at a spoiler, but still, it's possible to work out from one detail an important thing that happens at the end of the game.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco do as far as I'm aware.

* * *

The atmosphere in the living room was warm and inviting as Lloyd and Zelos entered it. Sheena and Colette were stretched out on the sofa facing each other, their backs resting on the opposite arms of the sofa.

"Welcome home," the women smiled.

"Have a nice time?" Sheena asked.

"Successful shopping trip yeap," Zelos nodded, holding up a couple of shopping bags and nodding at the ones Lloyd was holding.

"We'll just go put this lot away," Lloyd smiled.

"So, did you two have a nice afternoon?" Zelos called from the kitchen as he helped the younger swordsman put groceries away.

"Yeah, we sat in the garden drawing for a bit, read to the kids then we came indoors to work on this," Colette said happily.

"You still working on that fabric?" Lloyd chuckled.

"It's so lovely," Sheena beamed.

The men came back into the living room and settled on the floor beside the sofa. Lloyd picked Hope up out of the playpen where she and Kero were napping and cradled the small child in his arms. He cooed at her, smiling proudly.

"My lovely daughter," he grinned.

"You two have been working on that fabric for ages haven't you?" Zelos admired the fabric the women had spread out over their laps. They'd bought a large piece of fleecy fabric a couple of days ago, having decided that they simply had to have some of it even though they didn't know what they'd do with it. Because it was lovely and soft and warm they'd decided to make a blanket out of it.

They'd started by adding ribbon trimming around the edges of it, then had decided to add patches of felt in pretty pictures and shapes to it and were still adding bits now.

"Pass me Kero would you bud?" Zelos asked Lloyd. The younger man passed Hope to Colette then got the other child out of the playpen and passed him to his father. Then the brown haired man held his arms out for his daughter. The blonde passed her to him then turned back to her sewing.

"Ah, Kero, you're a mess, you're drooling in your sleep. That's not gonna help you get the ladies," Zelos smiled, grabbing a tissue to wipe his son's face.

"Get the ladies? He's barely two years old, I don't think that's something he has to worry about right now," Sheena rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Besides, Hope seems rather attached to him," Colette giggled.

"They were so cute today," Sheena smiled.

"They're always cute," Lloyd smiled. Then he tipped his head down a little as Hope yawned.

"Daddy," she grinned as she blinked sleepily.

"That's right," Lloyd beamed.

"Love you daddy," the young child said and Lloyd's grin got even wider. He looked over to Colette who smiled at him.

"Thank you," he said softly to her.

"What for?" she asked, tying a knot in the end of her thread.

"For making me so proud, giving me such a lovely daughter, being so wonderful to me," he replied, smiling happily. She blushed and muttered something none of the others could quite make out as she spoke so quietly. Her tone had been both flattered and slightly embarrassed and the blush stayed on her face as she leant over to kiss Lloyd. Then the angel turned her attention to the summoner.

"Just two more patches I think don't you?" she smiled.

"Sounds about right to me," the dark haired woman nodded. Then the two of them began to sift through a pile of felt scraps that was resting on top of the blanket. They selected what they wanted and put the rest aside before cutting up their selected pieces.

There was quiet peace in the room as they sewed and, along with Lloyd and Zelos, taught Hope some silly little songs. Kero woke up and stayed contentedly cradled in his father's arms, his bright eyes watching the people around him.

"There," Colette smiled as she tied the last knot in her thread. Sheena did the same thing shortly after her. The angel lent over with the scissors and snipped the end of the thread off as Sheena held it taut. Then the blonde passed the summoner the scissors and the dark haired woman cut the end of the other thread.

The pair happily announced that they were finished in Mizuhoan as the men turned to face them.

"Lets see it then," Zelos smiled. The women grabbed an end of the blanket each and shook it out so all of it was visible. The edges of the purple fabric were trimmed with a creamy pink ribbon and the area inside the ribbon border was covered with little felt patches of items connected with the journey the group of friends have been on what seemed like an age ago.

A little paw print and a bell representing Corrine was next to a larger paw print which was accompanied by green, purple and white stripes, Noishe. A purple sparkly feather like one from Colette's wings was next to a bluey white one like Lloyd's. A snow bunny, the great tree, simplified designs of the summon spirits, cards, a small assortment of weapons and accessories representing the members of the group of friends, a campfire and a starry patch of sky. All were lovingly represented in felt stitched to the purple fleece.

"That's really stunning," Lloyd's eyes were opened wide as he tried to spot all the careful detail put into the blanket.

"I can see why you took so long over it," Zelos nodded.

"Pretty," Hope smiled.

Both women blushed and modestly waved away the praise, insisting that it was just something they'd done as a bit of fun to amuse themselves.

Lloyd smiled and told them to wait on the sofa before passing Hope to Colette and nipping out of the room.

He returned, grinning, with a box of chocolates.

"I think you deserve these after all that hard work," he smiled as he passed the box to Sheena and took Hope back into his arms.

"Ohhhh, yummy!" Colette beamed as Sheena opened up the box of chocolate covered biscuit pieces. The summoner smiled as she selected a chocolate and indicated she was going to throw it at the angel.

Giggling the blonde nodded and somehow managed to catch it in her mouth.

"That's a neat trick, how'd you do that?" Zelos smiled.

"Practice," Colette laughed.

"Can I try?" Lloyd grinned.

Sheena nodded and threw a chocolate at him. He failed miserably and Hope caught it in her hand. She held it out to her father who thanked her then took the chocolate and ate it.

"Try again," Sheena smiled, grabbing another chocolate.

Five attempts later Lloyd still hadn't gotten the hang of it.

"Don't worry, took me a while to get it right," his wife smiled kindly.

"No more practice now though, you'll spoil your dinner otherwise," Sheena smiled.

"Oh, speaking of dinner, what do you guys fancy?" Colette asked.

"It's alright, we'll cook tonight," Zelos said, indicating himself and Lloyd.

"Shall we go start dinner now?" the brown haired swordsman offered.

"Ohh, that'd be nice," Colette smiled.

"Shall we have a bath while they cook?" Sheena offered.

"Mmm, sounds like a good idea," the angel nodded. "Hope, do you want a bath as well?"

"No, stay with Kero," the small girl shook her head.

"Fair enough," her mother smiled as they all got up.

"Do you want to come and watch us cook in the kitchen?" Lloyd offered. His daughter nodded and smiled as she followed her father and Zelos, who still had Kero in his arms, into the kitchen.

A short while later the two women were relaxing in the large, traditional Mizuho style bath. It wasn't as large as the hotspring they'd been to when they were on their journey, but it had a similar sort of design and they fitted into it comfortably.

Sheena laughed as Colette grabbed her collection of bath toys, mostly rubber ducks, and plonked them all into the bathtub.

"You're daft," the summoner smiled. Then she picked up a large duck and waved it at the angel, making growling noises. Colette selected a similar sized but different coloured duck and started battling Sheena's duck with it.

Much splashing and laughing ensued until Lloyd called out from behind the closed bathroom door that dinner was ready.

"Be out in a minute," Sheena called back as Colette knocked a duck out of her hand. The summoner turned to the angel.

"Alright, you win," she stuck her tongue out playfully before getting out of the bath and grabbing a towel to dry herself off with.

"Yay, the might of the blue duck triumphs again," Colette cheered as she pushed her duck around the tub in a victory lap.

"Come on, get out of the bath you," Sheena rolled her eyes and smiled, passing the angel a towel.

When they were dry and dressed they went to eat dinner, enjoying the nicely prepared meal immensely as both of them were rather hungry.

Once the food was finished the two women turned their attention to another scrap of the fleecy material.

"More sewing? What are you making this time?" Lloyd asked.

"You'll see when it's finished," Colette smiled, cutting up bits of felt and ribbon.

Zelos offered to take Lloyd out for a drink and, once they were sure the two women didn't mind, left the blonde and the dark haired woman sewing, listening to the radio with the children.

When they returned the house was quiet apart from the soft sound of the radio which was turned down to a low volume. They called out but got no reply.

Zelos went to the living room, where he'd last seen the others, then reappeared in the hallway and gestured for Lloyd to be quiet and to follow him back into the living room.

Lloyd smiled happily when he walked through the door. Sheena and Colette were laid out on the sofa, cuddled up together under their new blanket. Sheena was curled around Colette who was curled protectively around the two children who were wrapped up in a blanket that was made from the scrap of material they'd been working on when he left.

He knelt down beside the sofa and kissed the top of his wife's head before stroking his daughter's cheek.

Colette's eyes snapped open then half closed again in a content, peaceful expression when she saw Lloyd.

"You look cozy," he smiled at her.

"Mmmm," she purred blissfully. He grinned when he saw she was wearing the top from an old set of flannel pyjamas he often used to wear. It was much too big on her but that made it look cute and she insisted it was wonderfully warm to wear.

Sheena yawned and blinked.

"Alright?" she asked. Lloyd nodded and smiled.

"Just fine," Zelos knelt beside the sofa and wrapped a hand around his wife's.

Lloyd went to pick Hope up to give her a hug but she made a grumpy noise and wrapped an arm around Kero. Sheena giggled.

"I'd hate to see anyone try to pick a fight with him when he's older, something tells me Hope'd wipe the floor with them before she'd let Kero get hurt," the dark haired woman smiled.

"You saying my daughter would beat people up?" Colette laughed.

"If someone intended to beat Kero up then yes, I think she would," the summoner smiled.

"No one would try that, he's gonna be smart and strong and he'll learn to use both his parent's fighting techniques," Zelos grinned proudly.

"How do you know that? He might not want to learn either," Lloyd smiled.

"I just know," the redhead grinned.

Colette yawned.

"Time for bed I think," she said as she carefully got up and stretched.

Lloyd passed Kero to Zelos then picked Hope up. Colette and Sheena folded the blankets then they all left the living room, turning off the radio and lights as they went.


End file.
